I recently got back from Europe and it was a bit of a life changing journey. I was reminded that the majority of the world are not Americans. I hadn’t left this country since Bush came into office and I think that I had just lost all hope in humanity since he showed up. But the rest of the world exists! And its beautiful and old and full of wonderful, kind, compassionate people who just get it. What a relief.

I ran into this wonderful man in Berlin named Inox Kapell. He showed my friend Camalo and I his Insekteum, a storefront space that had giant plastic insects everywhere, old analog synths, organs and a thrift store too. There was even a really cute music venue in the basement. As you can guess, I was pretty into the synths so I asked him about them and he told me he was a musician, loved the old electric organs dearly, and would I like his CD? Of course, I said, and thanked him. I carried it with me for the rest of the trip, through Sweden and back to Holland. When I got home to Brooklyn I popped it in the player, and oh my god I loved it! He’s got many projects but this one is called Puckstörn and I included one of my favorite tracks in this mix.

Tragically, I just read on his website that the Insekteum is closing!“4 years of subculture art, music and insect discovery is over now.”

Wow, what a shame. I’m so glad I got to see it! If any of you live in Berlin and want some very very cool shit he’s putting all of it on clearance this month. Damn, I wish I was there. The Insekteum is located at Plügerstrasse 70 in Neu Kölln.

For those of you that can’t see the place for yourselves, there is a video on YouTube about the Insekteum and an interview with Inox in German.